william babbitt



(No Model.)

S. W. BABBITT.

LETTER SCALE.

Patented Jan. 24, 1893.

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Unrrnn STATES PATENT Crricn.

SETH VILLIAM BABBITT, OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT, AS SIGNOR TO THE VVILCOXSILVER PLATE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

LETTER-SCALE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 490,422, dated January24, 1893.

Application filed May 9, 1892.

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SETHWILLIAM BABBITT, of Meriden, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have inventeda new Improvement inLetter-Scales; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with accompanying drawings and the let- I ters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in-

Figure 1, a viewin front elevation of a letter-scale constructed inaccordance with my invention. Fig. 2, a view thereof partly in elevationand partly in vertical section. Fig. 3, a detached plan view of theyoke. Fig. (l, a broken view showing one corner of a case provided witha fixed instead of yielding stop as shown by the preceding figure.

My invention relates to an improvement in letter-scales, the objectbeing to produce a simple, durable and accurate device constructed withparticular reference to avoid having its indicator accidentally thrownout of its true relation to the graduations on its dial, and alsoadapted to have its indicator shifted to its zero position after anobject has been placed upon its receiver.

WVith these ends in view, my invention .consists in so constructing andarranging the weighted yoke which carries the indicatorshaft and thepinion meshing with the rack, that any quick movement of the lattercannot throw the yoke sufficiently outof place to dis connect the rackand pinion.

My invention furtherconsists in certain details of construction andcombinations of parts as will be hereinafter described and pointed outin the claims.

As herein shown, the device has a case A, of ordinary construction, andprovided upon its outer face with a scale A, over which the indicator B,sweeps, the said indicator being attached to the outer end of a shaft C,projecting through an elongated slot a, formed in the said face, andmounted in a gravity yoke D, suspended in the upper portion of the casefrom an arbor E. A pinion F, mounted on the said shaft between the twoarms of the yoke, engages with the rack G, the upper end of whichcarries the pan or receiver H, on

Serial No. 432,299. (No model.)

which the objects to be weighed are placed, while its lower end isconnected with the two levers I and I, which are of ordinaryconstruction, and supported in place by means of a spring J. The pinionF, is kept in engagement with the rack by the weighted end d, of theyoke. When a sudden blow is given to the receiver H in any manner, itwill be transmitted to the rack G, and hence to the pinion F, which itwill tend to throw out of engagement with the rack by swinging the yokeon its arbor E. If this disengagement should occur, the rack and pinionwould lose the integrity of their relations, and the indicator bederanged with respect to the graduations on the case. In order,therefore, to prevent this disengagement, I provide a stop to limit theoutward swinging movement of the yoke farther than it is necessary itshould swing to permit the pinion to follow the curved form of the rack.As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings this step consists of ayielding pin K, mounted in the top of the case, so that its lower endwill stand directly over and close to the weighted outer end d, of theyoke. This pin is held in place by a small collar K, attached to itsupper end, and bya light spring L, secured to the top of the case, andengaging with the collar. The spring is made stiff enough to hold thepin against displacement under the action of any blow that its inner endmight receive from the weighted end d, of the yoke under any outwardimpulse the same might receive from the rack. It is not so stiff,however, but what it will yield to permit the yoke to be swung and thepinion disengaged from the rack when the indicator and the shaft thereofare grasped by the fingers and pushed to the left, whereby the pinion isdisengaged from the rack so that it may be turned to set the indicatorwherever desired. This disengagement of the rack and pinion will befound convenient when it is desired to weigh an article, for instance,placed in the tray supported by the receiver. In that case the traywould be placed on the receiver, and the indicator adjusted to zero,after which the object to be weighed would be placed in the tray andweighed as though the same were a part of the receiver itself.

I prefer to employ a yielding stop, as de- ICO scribed, but that is notessential, although more convenient. In Fig. 4, I have shown a rigid pinM, arranged to limit the outward swinging movement of the yoke to themovement required by the curved face of the rack. I can also conceive ofconstructing the yoke so that its outer end would engage directly withthe case with the same effect. I would therefore have it understood thatI do' not limit myself to the exact construction herein shown anddescribed, but hold myself at liberty to make such changes andalterations therein as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of myinvention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a letter-scale,the combination with the case thereof, of leversand a rack suspended therein, a weighted yoke also suspended within thecase, a shaft mounted in the said yoke and carrying an indicator at itsouter end, and a pinion mounted on the shaft and held against the rackby the action of gravity on the yoke, the said yoke and case beingconstructed and arranged to limit the swinging movement of the yoke awayfrom the rack, to the movement required by the bowed form thereof,substantially as set forth.

2. In a letter-scale, the combination with the case thereof, of leversand a rack suspended therein, a weighted yoke also suspended within thecase, a shaft mounted in the said yoke, and carrying an indicator at itsouter end, a pinion mounted on the shaft and held against the rack bythe action of gravity on the yoke, and a stop located within the case tolimit the swinging movement of the yoke away from the rack,substantially as specified.

3. In a letter-scale, the combination with the case thereof, of leversand a rack suspended therein, a weighted yoke also suspended within thecase, ashaft mounted in the said yoke and carrying an indicator at itsouter end, a pinion mounted on the shaft and held against the rack bythe action of gravity on the yoke, and a yielding stop located withinthe case to limit the swinging movement of the yoke away from the rack,substantially as specified.

4:- In a letterscale the combination with a case having an enlargedopening formed in its face, of levers and a rack suspended within thesaid case, a weighted yoke also suspended in the case, a shaft mountedin said ing in the front of the case, and carrying an indicator at itsouter end, a pinion mounted on the shaft and held against the rack bythe action of gravity on the yoke, and a yielding stop for engagement bythe weighted outer end of the yoke, substantially as set forth, andwhereby the pinion may be disengaged from the rack against the action ofthe yielding stop, by taking hold of the projecting end of the shaft andmoving the same in the enlarged opening formed in the face of the case.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

SETH IVILLIAM BABDITT.

Witnesses:

JOHN M. REYNOLDS, JOSEPH A. HILL.

yoke, passing through the said enlarged open-

